Instant Gratification

It’s good to be back after a couple of weeks of holiday travel, free of phones, email and politics.

Thanks to the Conservative Party’s Senate candidates around the country who filled in in my absence and I hope you all enjoyed getting to know them a bit better.

Travel reminds me of just how lucky we are in this country – even with a revolving door of Prime Ministers.

We are blessed with space, opportunity and a way of life that is second to none. I just wish more people would cherish what we have and realise the vital need to defend our values and culture. That’s the only way to preserve what makes Australia such a unique and amazing place.

However what I noticed most, on these recent travels, was the clear evidence of changing priorities for young people. I was simply astounded by the number spending big money on luxury designer goods.

Wherever I went there were teens and twenty-somethings attired in some very expensive clobber. There were queues to get into high street designer stores and even longer ones to pay for piles of purchases.

Designer handbags were everywhere and my better half, who is somewhat skilled in knowing these things, priced them between $5,000 and $50.000. There was an abundance of $700 sneakers, $300 T-shirts and some dresses that would need a new mortgage to cover their purchase.

Now I know the super wealthy have always accessed these spaces but I was struck by just how many regular people were choosing to spend on these goods. Rather than judge a book by their cover, I struck up some conversations with a few younger patrons and concluded that designer shopping is a means of expressing concern for the future.

Perhaps I misunderstood but a common theme of these conversations was that they had given up on the dream of buying a home or having a stable life plan, in favour of the consumption and accoutrements of today.

They were completely unconcerned about accumulating credit card debt or deferred repayment schemes whilst often referring to ‘only living once’. They had little faith in politics or the ability to get ahead financially. It was a fascinating insight into the mindset of a group of young people today.

Part of me perfectly understands where they are coming from. Pursuing a traditional route of work, mortgage and family can seem tedious and unfashionable. It was always thus, but perhaps it is compounded today by the social media campaigns by peers and ‘influencers’.

It seems the immediacy of photo likes and followers are the new generation currency by which social status is demonstrated.

That partly explains why those not shopping were staring fixedly at their phones to the blissful ignorance of everything around them. Far better it seems to immerse yourself in a virtual world rather than engage with the living community and rich history around them.

No-one knows how it will all end but I am confident that some eternal truths that will eventually reassert themselves….someone always has to pay for debts accrued and as age brings experience, you realise that real-life, family and friends truly are the most important things in life.